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Japanese Whaling vessel enters Australian waters

Samantha DonovanUpdated
Fri 1 Feb 2013, 8:48 AM AEDT

The Federal Government has ordered a Japanese whaling vessel to get out of Australia's economic exclusion zone. The Shonan Maru Number 2 entered the zone off Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean yesterday afternoon. It departed this morning.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: The Federal Government has ordered a Japanese whaling vessel to get out of Australia's economic exclusion zone.

The Shonan Maru Number 2 entered the zone off Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean yesterday afternoon.

BOB BROWN: Well the Shonan Maru 2 is a Japanese government vessel. We believe it has armed personnel aboard. It is accompanying the whaling ships into the killing fields off Antarctica.

And when the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker made contact with the factory ship, the major ship for the Japanese fleet called Nisshin Maru, this ship tailed Bob Barker and has been doing so for a couple of days.

The Bob Barker has lost the Nisshin Maru but that was after it was hunted out of the whaling area. And this customs vessel, or this government vessel has kept with the Bob Barker through to Macquarie Island and into Australia's economic zone waters.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: What's the situation this morning?

BOB BROWN: My information from the Bob Barker this morning in the last hour is that the Shonan Maru, the customs ship, has stopped just outside Australia's territorial waters at Macquarie Island which is part of Tasmania. And the Bob Barker has proceeded up the coast of Macquarie Island with the Japanese vessel waiting outside territorial waters but very deeply inside Australia's exclusive economic zone.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: How inflammatory a move do you think that is?

BOB BROWN: Well I think it's one where the Japanese potentially will argue about who has control of exclusive economic zones and there's legal argument about that. No doubt the lawyers will be talking about that again today.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Federal Government sent a message to the Japanese government through Australia's Tokyo embassy, protesting about the vessel entering Australian waters. Do you think that's what's resulted in the ship backing off this morning?

BOB BROWN: Yes I do. But Tokyo has ignored the call from the Federal Government for this part of the whaling fleet not to enter our exclusive economic zone. So it's stayed outside the direct territorial waters but it has not obliged that request and protest from Australia that it should not enter our exclusive economic zone.

That is a matter of some affront to Australia and one that I've no doubt the Federal Government will be looking to deal with during today.